Zinc-furnace.



G. LONDRESS & W. WORLEY. ZI-NC PURNAQ'E.

APPLIOATION FILED JUNE 25,1912.

l ,048,420. Patented Dec. 24, 1912.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

WYIVESSES NVENTORS/ www u A Home] G. LONDRESS & W. WORLEY.

ZINC FURNAGE.

APPLIUATION FILED JUNI: 25,1912,

. 1,048,420. Patented Dec.24,1912.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

in s m W* K7 Allume),

G. LONDRESS I VV. WORLEY.

ZINC PURNACE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNI: 25,1912.

1,048,420, PaIeIlted Dec. 24, 1912.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

| I l l I I I I I I I G. LONDRBSS a W. WORLEY.

ZINC PURNACB.

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NVENTORS ,Allarney w -..i .i A.; l .wd 5 .L ...L L IL J JI. l@ M E @V MCE E J//N WTIVESSES zf// GrEOIRG-el LONDRESS .AND WEBSTER WORLEY, UF GRAFTON, WEST VIRGINIA.

ZINC-FURNACE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dee. 24,1912.

Application filed .Tune 25, 1912. Serial No. 705.834.

To all 107mm Many come/'n Be itI known that we, Gi-:olzon Loxnnnss and WEBSTER lVonLnr, eitizens ot' the United States, residing at Gra'lton, in the eonnty ot' Taylor and State ot' lVest Virginia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Zine-Furnaeers, ot Whieh the tollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to ainelting:r furnaees.

One object is to provide for the eonst'rnetion ot a smeltinp: .'turnaee embodying sueh parts in the t'rame work thereolf as to enable the lurnaee to be built al' a fomparatirely small expense and with a minimum amount of labor without in an way tepreeiating the strenetl'. and lil't` ot' the strn.r tare.

Another objeet resides in the provision of a smeltinnr 'l'm'naee whieh may be economieally eonstrueted and whit-h is so designed,l

eonneeted together, and eonstrueled as to greatly prolong the lite of the structure as eompared with the l'tfe ol.' the structures now in use for smellingA purposes.

A still further objeet is to provide a ptt! rality ot smelling 't'urnaees eonneeted together and yet permitting the same aeeesa to the rear walls thereof as may be had to the front walls ol the` turnaeea7 there beine; a spare arranged bet.\\"een adjacent lurnaees through whieh an attendant 'may paas and by ril-tue olwhieh he may mend a rear wall as easily as a front wall and through whieh atteiulantsniay pass tor inspection of the rear wallis` at any time, the spared furnaees being [irmly eonneeted together so that one will aid in supporting' the other.

lt is still `further deaigrnetfl to provide a frame-wink for building' smelling or other t'nrnaeea` wherein the various parts may be inexpensively manufactured and the parts readily ass-tembled to facilitate the building' of the furnaees with a minimum ame-unt o'l labor.

With the abore and other objects in viewv` the present 'invention consists ot' the combination and arrangenient ot' parts hereina lter more fully deseribed, illustrated in the ae eompanying, drawings and parlienlarly pointed ont in the aipi'iended claims, it being understood that ehanges may be made in the form, inoportion, size and minor details without departing' vtrom the scope or sacrificing any ot the advantages ot' the' invention.

y ments l1 1n the drawings1-Figu1e 1 is a vertical transverse sectional View through two furnacen mounted over a tunnel. Fig. 2 is a horizontal Sectional View through the furnaees. Fig. 3 is a side view partly in elevation and partly in section. Fig. t a 'fragmentary View illustrating ay series of blow boxes or hydrocarbon burners set up together with one ot the adjacent rear buckstays and the interlockingr connections between them. Fig. 5 is a detail view of on'z of the buek-stays. Fig. G'is another detail View oit a l 11elis't:i Fig. T is a horizontal seetional view through `one oit' the front` bueh-stays. l `ig. is a horizontal sectional riew through one of the rear boek-stays.

-Fig. 9 is a transverse seetional View through one ot the members tor eonneeting the t'ront Stays together. Fig. l0 is a front. View of one ot' the front. buck-stay interloelonl.,Y members. 4

Referringf now more partienlarly to the accompanying drawings the relerenee eliar mieter l() indieates a tunnel through whieh trut-ks or ther yeliieles may pass and into which the residue 'trom whieh the Zine is extracted in the l'uruaee may' be delivered when cleaning` therretorts otl the furnaces. This tunnel if; l'ormed by eonerete abut'- and hriek work l'. on the abnimentsI with the tunnel ineluding an areh 13, there beinepassages 1-t leadingr into the tunnel as shown. Y

lt is on top ot' the oriek work lz! that our Jr"lrnaeeS are disposed and it will be seen that the furnaces which are designated at A and ll are disposed in spared relation in @ontradistinetion to sep-tirate l'urnaees eonneeted together by a single renter wall. ll'e pret'erably torm the t'urnaee.-- in spared relation So that an attendant niay enter the Spare l5 between the turnaees to repair the bat-ks or any part o'lI the haelt' ol' earh ot the itiurnaees. it repair should be neressary at the baeks thereot. letweeu t al'y the bottom are rspaeed tie `membri.v

and between the t'uriiaees at their upper' portions are spaced tie members IT wliieh etleetirely sustain the rear walls olI the l'urnaees in proper Ispared relation.

'l`he turnaees are preferably eonstrueted alike and ot' any size neeessary or desired and therefore in deseribing the same reler enee need be made to but one oll '.hem. (lo top oit'V the briek work 1". are longitudinal llt" 55 the same manner that the mterlocking memplates v18 each of which has' a plurality of notches 19 on its outer edge in which may be disposed rail or other anchoring` irons 20 which eXtend vertically into the brick work 12 with `opposite anchors 20 connected 'together by tie rods 21 which are adjustable by means of turn buckles 22. These .anchoring irons 20 prevent outward movement of the .plates 18 to obviate lateral shifting of the outer walls of the furnaces.

.Front wall buck-stays are indicated at 24 and each has a notch 23 at its outer lower end adapted to fit over the longitudinal plate 18, as shown in'Fig. l. These front buck-stays are preferably arranged 4throughout the front side of the furnace the same distance apart with relation to one another and eachis reduced at its upper end to form a shoulder 25 and a vert-ical extension 26 provided with a screw threaded eye lin its outer end for a purpose presently explained.. On each side of each 'frontbuckstay 24 will be seen (Fig. 7) a plurality 5f equidistant ribs 27. which are preferably cast therewith and each of which ribs hasa dovetailed recess 28 in its u per .side which recesses are adapted to ormsockets to receive the dove-tailed portions 29 of the buckstay connecting 'members 30 (Fig. 9) which members 30, by virtue of their interlocking connection with the front buck-stays 24',

proper spaced relation.:

Each buck-stay 24-has a vertical groove 31 extending from the -bottom thereof to said shoulder 25 for the reception of fire brick material 32 to prevent the front buckstays from being exposed to the direct heat or flame of the furnace to prevent burning out of the stays and each of the members 30 has a horizontal recess 33 on its inner side to receive a re brick 34 which is adapted to project from the groove or recess 33 to form a support for the retorts to'be hereinafter referred to.

The rear buck-stays of each furnace are indicated at 35 and 36, each of the buckstays 35 having its opposite faces rovided with ribs 37 (Fig. '5) with each r1b in its upper side formed with a dove-tailed recess 38 (Fig. 5) just like the recess formed in the" front buck-stays for the reception of interlocking members 38 (Fig. 1) provided with dove=tailed portions adapted to it in the recesses of the ribs of opposite stays 35 in Serve to-tie the front buck-stays together in bers connect the front stays. These interlocking members 38 each have a horizontal recess 40 adapted to receive a horizontal supporting brick 41 adapted to preventribs 44 on their inner sides'on which ribs' 44 are slidably mounted blow boxings or hydrocarbon burner casings 45, there being blocks 46 disposed between the vertically arranged casings 45 and having preferably the same cross sectional shape as the cross sectional shape of the casings 45. Lugs 44 support the lowermost casings 45.

The rear buck-stays 35 and 36 are preferably each reduced at their upper ends to form shoulders 47 and vertical extensions 48, the latter being provided lwith screw threaded openingsl adapted to receive tie rods 49 and- 50, the latter tie rods being preferably-Y-shaped (Fig. 3) and adapted to be used where two of the closely spaced buck-stays 36 have on their outer sides ribs N rear buck-stays 36 are to be connected with a single front buck-stay 24.

Disposed on the shoulders 25` and 47 of the front and rear buck-stays 24 and 35 respectively are angle irons 51, which form abutments for 4the efficient support of the arch 52- of each furnace. Each of the rearv ers are arranged in spaced sets throughout A the length of the furnace as may be'seen by reference `to Fig. 2 of the accompanying drawings and the end walls -54 and 55 of the furnace are braced in any suitable manner,`

preferably by metallic or other beams 57 with the side walls of the structure terminating prefera ly short of the wall 55, leaving a space'S/so that by virtue of expansion of the sidel,./walls incident to heat the end walls 54 and 55 are not placed .under undue stress because ofthe space 58 providing for amplef longitudinal expansion of the walls,

incident to heat, it being understood 'that theside wallsA are mudded up between the buck-stays and interlockingi members 30 andw 38 in the usual manner together with any other spaces that may exist between thel parts forming the skeleton work or supportingstructure of the side walls.

The character 59 indicates an air pipe disposed over each furnace and which may lead from any suitable source.v Communicating with each air pipe 59 are branch air pipes ,13.0

which lead down along,r .the rear side wall of each furnace in line with the hydrocarbon burners with each branch pipe 60 provided with an air nozzle (Sl leading. into the chamber .62. The gas pipe (i8 'leading from any suitable .source may be supported in any suitable manner, as for instance by brackets (il on 'the rear wall of each furnace, and ithas branch pipes (35 leading 10 downwardly alongside of thc rear Vall of each furnace adjacent the air branch pipes 59 and each provided with inwardly projecting nozzles 66 which terminate adjacent the inner end .ofthe air nozzles (il so that 1,5 there may'be an etlicient mixing of the air and gas in the chambers 62 of the hydro! carbon burner casings t5 as to cfl'ect an ellicient heating flame.

When a furnace has been constructed in accordance with our invention there is first .started therein a wood hre, started preferably at one end of the furnace with. the products of combustion passing through the flue 67 and into they smoke-.stack 68. This fire eventually causes such heat as to result .in 'a proper ignition of the vapor issuing from the chambersntlQ of the first set nearest the smokestack end of the furnace and as the temperature gradually rises the lheat spreads toward the opposite end of the furnace and causes ignition of the vapor issuing from the sets of hydrocarbon burners step by .step according to the number of sets of hydrocarbtm burners employed. Prior to starting the fire, the retorts (39 containing the ores are disposed in the furnace with the retorts resting upon thc horizontally arranged fire bricks 3VU and 4lv of the front and..rear interlocking ymembers 3() and 25H respectively and with the retorts preferably disposed upon an incline and provided with a funnel 70 rn'ojecting outwardly of the furnace over the interlocking members 30 as.

clearly shown in Fig. 1 so that., by 'virtue of the inclination of the retorts the zinc as it is melted flows toward the other ends of the retorts into the tunnels 70, the latter having their outer ends preferably choked or supplied with mnd7 charcoal or the like to prevent accidental escape of the molten material which is removed through the funnels when desired. The connection between the tunnels and the retotts is prefe'abty mudded but if there should be any leakage ot` the zinc from the retorts and the inner ends of the funncls T0 there would be a possibility of the escaping fluid dropping down and-passing through the conduits lland going to waste. tllowever, the upper yfaoes 71 of the front interlockihg members `30 are preferably inclined and by virtue of Ythe shoulders 72 formed at Vthe outer edges thereof. the melted zinc escaping, if any escapesc from between lthe retorts ,and their 6b funncls, may accumulate on the upper faces 71 of the interlocking members 3() behind the shoulders '72 and may be convenienti)v removed therefrom. See Figs. 1 and t).

The funnels may be properly supported with relation to the ret'orts (if) by meansI of las clearly shown in the drawings, and in the event that repairs should be necessary to some particular part of the furnace or in thc yevent that access should be deslred to the furnace at any particular.l point for any other reason, the supply of gaseous fluid to one or more of the sets of hydrocarlmn burners could he cut oil so as to permit repair bv an attendant of any particular part of the furnace or to enable him to inspect any particularpart thereof; and by virtue of the fact that thc furnaces are spaced rather than two furnaces` formed with a single center wall. the attcndant has as easy access to the rear wall of a plurality of furnaces connected together as he has to the/front sides of the furnaces.

`When it is desired to remove the retorts .from the furnaces it may be readily accomplished in the usual manner and after removal or prior thereto, that is, without removing the retorts from the furnaces the ores therein may be conveniently and readily discharged or passed through the conduits lll andrinto the tunnel l() where there is generally disposed a car or vehicle to carry away the residue discharged through said conduits. These conduits or passages preferably have a length the same as the length of the furnaces and it is preferred to keep their mouths closed by a suitable plate or other covering li when there is no good reason to permit passage of residue or escaping zinc tberctln'ough.

lirom the foregoing it will be seen that we connect our turuaces up in spaced relation so that repairs may be made from either the front or the back of each furnace and which cannot be done when the furnaces are joined together with the usual common center wall. It will also he seen that by virtue bf the front and rear buck-stays being connected together by thtl interlocking connecting members that each of them may be readily removed from connection with the respective buck-stays independently of other similar menihers. 'lt will also be seen that the retorts may be easily .seated or unseated as may be desired, one imlepemlently of another and that the interlocking mehr bers are so formed/f" that in the eventv of accidental escape"`of' metal the'v escaping metal may be arrested and collected and thereby prevented from going to waste. It will also be seen that our furnace embodies among other characteristics means whereby in the event of accident` or repair being necessary to any part of the structure that parts of the structure may be readily repaired without shutting down the entire furspaced relation each of the interlocking members having a recess therein, and fire brick material in the recesses of said members to protect the same from heat and flame and 'adapted to form retort supports.

2. A furnace wall comprising vertically disposed buck-stays each having ribs on opposite sides, each rib being provided with' a recess, and members each having projections to fit in the recesses of the ribs and form an interlocking connection between said members and the stays.

3. A :furnace wall comprising vertically disposed buck-stays each having ribs on opposite sides/each rib being` provided with a recess, and members each having projections to fit inthe recesses of the ribs and form an interlocking' connection between said members and the stays, each stay also having a longitudinal recess in its inner edge for the reception of fire-brick material to prevent 45 burning out of-the stays.

4.- A furnace wall comprising'. vertically disposedl buck-stays some of which have ribs on opposite sides with each rib provided with a recess and others of which have short Yvcrtical'ribs on one side, members each having projections to tit in the recesses of the ribs and form an interlocking connect-ion between said members and the stays which have recessed ribs thereon, and hydrocarbon .burners including casings provided with `grooves to fit over said short ribs of the bers e'ach having projections to'it'in the recesses of the ribs to form interlockingoon'- nections between said members and the stays which have recessed ribs thereon and hydr carbon burner casings provided with grooves to slide over said short ribs of the other sets `of stays with the lowermost hydrocarbon burner casing supported on said lugs.

6. A furnace ofthe character described including single-piece front and rear buckstays extending from the bottom to and above the top of the furnace, combined buok-stay interlocking members and means for supporting retorts in the furnace, end walls for the furnace, and means for connecting the front and rear buck-stays together."

7. The combination of a tunnel, passages leading to the tunnel, furnaces vmounted above the tunnel, with the furnaces spaced from each other to permit access to the rear wall of each furnace, connecting means be-V tween the furnaces, each furnace having its `front 4wall composed of equl-dlstant spaced buck-stays, means for connecting the front vbuck-stays together, the rear wall of each furnace including buclestays7 hydrocarbon burners supported by spacedt sets of buckstaysof the rear wall of each furnace, means for supplying a combustiblefluid to said hydrocarbon burners, means for connecting the front and rear buck-stays "together, ausl end wallsfor each furnace. X y

8. A 'furnace of thev character described including front and rear buck-stays each having a recess in' its inner edge for the reception of fire brick material with each buck-stay having projecting portions on opposite sides; and members having interlocking connection with the projecting portions of the buck-stays to maintain the latter in. spaced relation, and hydro-carbon burners for the furnace.

9. A furnace Wall comprising vertically disposed buck-stays each having ribs on opposite sides with each rib provided intermediate its ends with a recess, and members each having projections to fit in the recesses of the ribs and form an interlocking connection between said members and said stays, each sta having a longitudinal recess in its inner ec ge for the reception of fire brick material to prevent burning 'out of the stays and each of` said members having a recess therein for the receptionof fire brick mate rial to protect said members from heat and flame and adapted to form retort supports.

10. A furnace wall comprising vertically disposed buck-stays, spaced sets of hydro- I carbon burners arranged in superimposed burners.

11.'A imnace Wall eomprisiing` vertically disposed 4buck-stays each having ribs on opposite sides with each rib provided with a reeess, and memberseaeh having projeet ionsI to tit in the recesses ol the ribs and torni an interlocking eo-nneetion between said members and said stays, said interlocking members having' inclined top surfaces and a shoulder at the outer edge thereof.

12. A furnaee ot the eliaraeter deseribed ineluding'in eombinat'itm` front and rear walls composed olf spaced bueh-Stays, end walls. members eonneetine' the blick-stays ot' the. front and rear walls' to maintain the bnelestays in upright position, eaeh of said eomwetnrLgmembers ha vine' a reeess therein. and lire briek material disposed in said reeesses ot' the eonneeting; membersl to proteet the eemieetiirer members Vtrom heat and liim. and to 'form retort supports.

'13. A Yt'nrmlee otl the eharaeter deseribed ineludinp; in eon'lbina'tion, `tront and real' walls eompesed ol' spaced bueh-stays, members eonneeting the buck-stays to maintain them in upright` position, eaeh ot said eenneetine' members having a reeess therein, and tireubriek material disposed `in said reeesses otl the eonneetine' members to prot'eet the eonneetingj members from heat and llame' and to l'orm retort snppors, said connectiing members having their upper surfaces 'formed to arrest any melted zine thatI may escape Vfrom the retorts.

14. A furnaee wall comprising` vertically eonneet ing .members ot' the front Stays beingl 'l'ormed npon an incline and at their outer ends ln'ovnled with a shoulder and spat: d

ears each stav havin a lonffitndinal reet...

in its inner edge tor the reception of tire briek material to protect the stays from heat and llame, eaeh ot said connecting members ha ving a reeess in its inner side for the reeeption of Iire brick material to protect the eonneeting;r members from heat and llame, retorts snliported on the fire brick material of the eonneeting members, 'tunnels mounted between the stays :for cooperation with the retorts7 and elements swingingly mounted in the ears of the connecting members of the frontl wall to support said tunnels.

ln testimony whereof we atlix our signaturesI in presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE LONDRESS. 'VEBSTER VORLEY. l/Vitnessesl JOHN C. Brumm, ljmrrlm Snanicsran. 

